Uzbekistan after independence
By Ziyadullayev Abdulla Ubaydullayevich & Gadoeva Nargiza Nosirovna
English Teachers
UZBEKISTAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF WORLD LANGUAGES
Throughout the world there exist numerous countries with diverse historical background and cultural identities which have
experienced independence and continued to develop as time went on; there are others which were conquered and controlled and after achieving their freedom started to contribute to the development of their homeland politically, economically and socially.
Uzbekistan is an example of the second group of countries since it achieved independence after about 70-year rule of the Soviet Union that completely limited its independent decision-making and remained only a source of resources for the developed countries. The country had been lagging behind in political, economic, education and social spheres.
With independence in 1991 started a period of transition in the country by efforts to do away with the former trends and ideas and an all round improvement in education and social fields, not only quantitatively but also qualitatively. A brief of what has changed over the past 23 years.
Education
President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov started to make reforms in the system of education and upbringing the younger generation from the first day of independence, which, at the same time, could create capability for the country to make its place in the world community. Hence, from the initial days of independence, the process of establishing a new educational system started which was expected to meet the requirements of the new State step-by-step taking the age of youth into account and dividing them into right class forms – pre-school education, secondary school education, secondary specialized, professional (vocational) education and higher education.
The first document– Decree of the President dated 17 September, 1991 «On releasing Republican state administrative bodies, as well as the system of public education from political parties » was dedicated to these goals. From this date it was prohibited for political parties to i n t e r f e r e w i t h t h e a c t i v i t y o f educational institution. Nowadays, there are 6232 pre-educational establishments which cover 55171 children from which 2346 pre-school establishments are in urban areas and cover 296807 and 3886 ones are in rural areas covering 257364 children.
The number of higher educational institutions comprises sixty six, 20 of which are universities, 40 of them are institutes and 2 of them are academies.
In addition to this there are a total number of 286300 students in higher education including 273700 in the Bachelor’s level and 12600 in Master’s level in various areas of studies. With the purpose of rejuvenating the educational system, the first law «Law on Education» of the Republic of Uzbekistan was adopted on 2 July, 1992. The priority of the sphere of education in social-economic and spiritual-cultural development of the country was stated in this law. Main directions of educational policy, s t r u c t u r e a n d s y s t e m o f administration, rights and obligations of participants of education were defined in this document.
Majority of institutions that had existed during the Soviet Union era, which didn’t allow even a slight change in this field, were transferred into special universities and their programs altered to the needs of the students and the country.
In Uzbekistan, individual institutions prepare budget bids which are submitted and examined by the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialised Education (MHSSE). The total budget is aggregated and submitted to the Ministry of Finance, where a judgement about the total is made and sent back to the MHSSE, which then reallocates the final figures between its institutions. The procedure is related also to Governmental scholarships of the President of the R e p u b l i c o f U z b e k i s t a n a n d Government scholarships named after Beruny, Ibn Sino, Navoi and Ulugbek. Not only the education system has been switched but also the facilities for acquiring knowledge have changed by renewing and reconstructing the University buildings not only in the capital city of Tashkent, but throughout the country. In general, a large amount of money from the county’s budget is invested in the field of education.
Furthermore, more attention was given to sport types and requirements of the training institutions by creating every possibility for the youth to train and attend the world competitions under the name of Uzbekistan (while during the period of Soviet Union Uzbek winners of sport were the winners of SSSR) and won lots of medals from the first five years of independence which can be marked as a result of the created facilities for them.
International Relations Independence of Uzbekistan opened doors for it to be integrated into a number of national organizations in order to ensure the development of the country which could enable the county’s youth to travel abroad and become members overseas in the field of education.
Independence of Uzbekistan opened doors for it to be integrated into a number of national organizations in order to ensure the development of the country which could enable the county’s youth to travel abroad and become members overseas in the field of education.
Uzbekistan established diplomatic relations with more than 120 countries of the world. Forty two embassies of foreign countries, 1 Consulate General, 8 honorary consuls, 9 representatives of international organizations, 5 international financial organizations, 3 trade delegates with diplomatic status are operating now in Tashkent.
At the same time, there are 46 d i p l o m a t i c a n d c o n s u l a r representatives of the Republic of Uzbekistan in foreign countries and international organizations, including permanent missions at the UN in New York and the UN European department and other international organizations in Geneva. Uzbekistan is a member of m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 i n t e r n a t i o n a l organizations, including the UN, SCO, CIS, CSTO, among others. Close relations have been established with
the European Union and NATO. This has enabled exchange ideas and experience between Uzbekistan and other countries in the field of science and technology, education, economic and social including culture and traditions.
Uzbek youth, in general the entire population, is able to use all sites and books throughout the world and even visit other countries to acquire knowledge.
Science
Uzbekistan has become a scientific centre in Central Asia. The number of science institutions is 300 that possess their own research basis and sponsorships with about 25000 a c c o m p l i s h e d s c i e n t i s t s a n d researchers. Since science is also considered to be one of the major part contributing to the development and agriculture and related trends, scientists have been adequately funded and given free hand to carry out their researches based on their theoretical knowledge in various areas of science like microelectronics, astronomy, biophysics, genetics and geology.
M o r e t h a n 3.5 billion Sums are allocated annually f o r s c i e n t i f i c research dedicated to some special programs by the State Committee on Science and Engineering which basically include some global i s s u e s n o t o n l y t h e c o u n t y ‘ s fundamental problems but also ones that are controversial among many countries in today’s competitive world including the utilization of genetic engineering in the production of new kinds of silkworm cocoons, the development of solar thermal systems and the development of water-saving irrigation and water conservation t e c h n o l o g i e s . T o f a c i l i t a t e communications between Uzbek and experts from other countries, all the modern communications have been created and funded by the government.
Economy
Any country experiences a period of transition, basically in economic field for about a century to gain sufficient knowledge to deal with problems. However, in Uzbekistan, the hard working population coupled with the right economic policies has led to an economic boom after independence.
The economy didn’t only focus on the plantation of cotton, but a large variety of crops were grown. A number of reforms were undertaken according to the climate and condition of the land as well as creating amenities for them. Initial attention was paid to primary industry so that the country is able to achieve ample quantity of raw materials and crops before stepping to the secondary industry to set up relative organizations and factories, not only to improve the economy of the country but also to prevent any increase in unemployment rate. The youth were involved in the newly-built factories to utilize their theoretical knowledge.
As a result, Uzbekistan started not only to support the country’s population, but also established new relations with other countries and began to export goods. This led to growth of new organizations and companies in Uzbekistan enabling exchange of e x p e r i e n c e a n d k n o w l e d g e b y businessmen in their specialized discipline.
Compared to the past, this was a huge development as other countries in the world set up trade links with Uzbekistan which was on a road to economic success after independence.
